As noted before, Jonathan Gresham recently requested his release from AEW and Ring of Honor following a heated backstage incident with ROH owner Tony Khan prior to ROH’s Death Before Dishonor 2022 event this past Saturday in Lowell, Massachusetts.
The Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer reported in Sunday’s Daily Update that his sources stated that besides communication-related issues, another reason for Gresham’s release request was due to him being very unhappy over Khan’s decision to have him lose his ROH World Championship at the event. Gresham was also upset that his match would be going on first instead of a latter spot during the event.
In regards to the heated backstage incident, Meltzer reported that his same sources stated that the actual meeting between the two was private and both agreed to not publicly talk about it. Meltzer also reported that the current belief within AEW and ROH is that Gresham is gone from both companies.
PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that his sources confirmed the reports of Gresham requesting his release from AEW and ROH. These same sources also stated that one story going around in AEW and ROH’s locker rooms was that Gresham “used his ranking in the Pro Wrestling Illustrated magazine PWI 500 list as an argument as to why he should be presented better” during his heated conversation with Khan.